The description herein will primarily relate to bagging silage but it is conceived that other materials may require the same or similar compaction requirements. Accordingly, the reader is to understand that throughout the disclosure whereas the specific references are to bagging silage, other applications including compaction and bagging of other farm crop materials as well as compost materials and the like are contemplated. Hereafter such materials are sometimes collectively referred to as organic materials.
Silage is stored in a compacted state inside a closed container to prevent oxidation of the silage. Whereas stored silage ferments, in the presence of oxygen it will become acidic and spoil, and in absence of oxygen it will generate a glucose or sweet taste. The latter is desirable as a food crop for livestock and the former is highly undesirable. Thus, it is important to store silage in a relatively air free state.
Whereas silage has been commonly stored in silos, more recently it has been stored in large plastic bags (e.g., 8' diameter and 300' long). In order to insure that the stored silage is substantially air/oxygen free, the silage is pre-compacted. That is, the material is force fed into a short tunnel that is part of the bagging machine, wherein the material is compacted and then pushed out of the tunnel and into the bag. The process is ongoing and the bag is deployed off the tunnel only as needed to insure a tight compacted fit of the silage in the bag.
Typically a back stop is provided that holds the material in the tunnel until the desired compaction is attained. The back stop is tethered to the machine by cables carried by a pair of reels mounted on the sides of the machine. The reels resistively play out the cables, i.e., an adjustable brake mechanism prevents un-reeling of the cable until a preset pressure is attained which is established to coincide with the desired compaction. This manner of providing the desired compaction is disclosed in detail in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,159,877 and 4,337,805. The disclosures therein of typical silage bagging machines is incorporated herein in their entirety.
The problem with the tethered back stop is that the apparatus of the back stop and cables (e.g., each being 300' in length) is cumbersome and requires re-reeling and hauling from site to site. Whereas a partially filled bag will itself provide a back stop, the force required to achieve compaction is significant and will force the bagging machine forward unless tethered to the backstop. Simply braking the wheels of the bagging machine is not adequate in many situations as the wheels will be skidded along the ground by the compaction force.
It is accordingly an objective of the present invention to provide suitable pre-compaction of the silage material in a tunnel of a bagging machine using an internal mechanism that eliminates the need for a tethered back stop.